The dark cep o bronze bolete (Boletus aereus) is one of the species of mushrooms from the genus Boletus that are collectively known as boletes. The bronze bolete grows in cork oak forests on siliceous soil -that’s why its popular names in Catalan “sureny” or “siureny” coming from “suro” or “surera” to name the cork oak-, although in addition to cork oaks it can associate with holm oaks and oaks as well. In Catalonia it is found mainly in the coastal districts of the province of Girona, while in Central Catalonia it is very rare. Despite being a highly appreciated mushroom, it is not traditional among mushroom pickers in the middle of Catalonia because it’s hard to find it in its forests.
The bronze bolete is a fairytale mushroom. It has a robust, up to 20 cm in diameter at the end of the growth, hemispherical cap with a dark brown or chestnut-coloured, mat shade and velvety cuticle. Underneath, it has a sponge of white or greyish tubes ending in fine, also white pores. The stem is obese in its lower half, even wider than the cap in young specimens, and coloured in a paler than that of the cap cuticle brown. Overall, Boletus aereus displays a beautiful suntan that justifies the popular names of bronze bolete in English, “boleto bronceado” in Spanish and “cèpe bronze” in French. Its flesh is hard and white colour that does not change on contact with air.
There are several similar to B.aereus species of boletes: B.pinophilus) with a reddish-brown cuticle, B.fragrans whose pores and flesh turn blue, B.edulis with unctuous cuticle, a whiter stem and pores that turn yellow over time, and B.aestivalis with a paler cuticle and reticulated stem surface. In English, all these species from Boletus genus are known together as boletes, and all of them are highly appreciated; therefore, their accurate identification at specific level is not so important. Anyhow, B.aereus heads the gastronomic ranking of boletes. Bronze boletus is one of the mushrooms that can be eaten raw cut into slices, as the Caesar’s mushroom (Amanita caesarea).
[photos Carme Serra (1st) and Just Serra (2nd)]